1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording technology and more particularly to a technology for recording images up to near the edge of a recording medium in an image recording apparatus for injecting ink to the recording medium and recording the images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as an image recording apparatus for applying a recording process to a recording medium (record data), such as paper and the like, for example, an ink-jet type full-line image recording apparatus is known. In this image recording apparatus, a nozzle array (recording head) composed of a plurality of nozzles for injecting ink liquid drops, formed across the length equal to or more than the width of the recording medium in a direction (main scanning direction) orthogonal to a carrier direction (sub scanning direction) where the recording medium is carried is arranged for each ink color. These nozzle arrays for each ink color are separated at predetermined intervals in the sub scanning direction and also are arranged in such a way that nozzles are opposed to the recording medium.
In such an image recording apparatus the recording process can be applied across the entire recording medium only by relatively moving the recording medium and a line head having a nozzle array in a direction almost orthogonal to the array direction of the nozzles. Therefore, in such an image recording apparatus, a recording process can be rapidly performed by a simple operation without carriage movement, the intermittent transport of a recording medium. However, when compared with a short recording head, the line head is expensive, has low yield, has low reliability and so on.
As an image recording apparatus for solving such problems, there is one provided with a line head in which an injection nozzle is formed by arranging a plurality of short nozzle arrays arranged in one direction in a nozzle arranging direction. Such a line head has the advantages of a line head while having the advantages of a short nozzle array, such as low cost, high yield, high reliability and the like.
An image recording apparatus provided with a function to record an image across the entire recording medium without forming a blank at the edge of a recording medium, a so-called blankless recording function (also called edgeless recording function) is also proposed.
For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. 2001-96874 discloses an image recording apparatus. In this image recording apparatus, when an image-forming substance, such as ink or the like is moved to a recording medium on the basis of an image signal and an image is recorded on the recording medium, the image-forming substance is moved to only the existence area of the recording medium on the basis of the existence area information of the recording medium. According to this document, it is said that print in which an image is fully recorded up to the edge (end) (edgeless print) can be realized without wasting a recording medium, ink and the like and also without a stain in the outside area of a recording medium, due to an image-forming substance.